Percy Jackson & The Kanes Book 1: New World Truth
by Gates Hale
Summary: the Percy Jackson crew and the infamous Kanes set AFTER the Heroes of Olympus AND The Kane Chronicals takes on a journey to whathappened when there was a clash between the Egyption gods and the Greek/Roman gods. Percabeth later in the story :
1. Annabeth Hits Leo With The Great Pyramid

**CHAPTER 1:**

**Annabeth Hits Leo with the Great Pyramid**

So I guess I thought that after Kronos, everything would go back to normal. Er, well, normal for a demigod I guess. But then, of course, Gaea decided it was time to wake up from her beauty sleep (and I promise, she could have used a few thousand more years of that), and Juno (sorry, _Hera_. I still do that sometimes from my time in the Roman camp) decided to uproot me from my friends, family, and life in general. Oh, and she dumped my memory too. Nice lady, huh. Anyway, so me and Jason brought the camps together (that was interesting; some of the fights the Greeks and Romans got in were insane!) and a whole bunch of us went off to mess up Gaea in Greece. We won, as is obvious by the fact act that I'm telling this story and am not dead, and now Gaea's back underground where she belongs. So I should get to go home, right? Nope. Everything should go back to demigod normal, right? After all, we'd saved the world _twice_ now. But no. Because Annabeth just_ had_ to see the Pyramids. Great.

"Did you know they only took 20 years to build it?" she said excitedly about the Great Pyramid. "I've heard there are still miles of tunnels left to be excavated! Nobody knows how far they go."

Leo pantomimed barfing behind Annabeth, and I had a really hard time stifling a laugh, not only because Annabeth had been going on about this for hours, but because Leo had built mechanical barf that was now 'splattering' on the ground. Annabeth, apparently, heard Leo because she whipped around and pegged him in the forehead with a miniature pyramid. Jason broke first. A loud guffaw left his mouth explosively, and then Piper started giggling uncontrollably. I tried, I really did, but at about the same time as Frank I folded over in laughter. Hazel managed a little longer than the rest of us before a small chuckle left her mouth. Annabeth had a triumphant look on her face and Leo was rubbing his head where the point (what had Annabeth called it? Oh, a pyramidion, right. ) had connected with flesh.

Grover trotted up to a bunch of fifteen to eighteen year olds sitting in the middle of the sidewalk laughing their heads off. I imagine it was a pretty funny sight. "What did I miss this time?" Grover grumbled.

"Annabeth hit me," said Leo, trying to act miffed but failing miserably.

Grover laughed and passed around waters."Figures I'd miss that," he smiled good-naturedly. "What's that?" he asked pointing at Leo's mechanical goop.

"Barf," I said trying to control my laughter. Leo wasn't the only one failing miserably.

"Right..." Grover took a step back. After that, a whole other round of laughing shook the group, this time including Annabeth and Leo.

A few tourists gave us weird looks, so we stood up and dusted ourselves off, still giggling a bit. Annabeth was holding some pyramid architecture book that Jason had asked about. We'd all tried to stop him, but nevertheless, the question was asked. I didn't really mind, though. Most of what Annabeth said still went right over my head, but I liked listening to her talk.

"Guys," Hazel said, "our bus for Cairo leaves in, like, half an hour. We should probably, you know, go to the bus station." She had become a kind of voice of reason for us. Jason and I, well, we'd both rush into a situation without a minute of thought. Leo got distracted a lot, and Frank was Fiercely protective o Hazel. Seriously, the other day, some guy gave her a funny look, and Frank decked him. She'd scolded him, but secretly, I was sure she was pleased. Annabeth, once her mind was set on something, was very difficult to dissuade, but Hazel somehow managed it. Sometimes. Piper tended to charm speak people without realizing it, and Hazel was always telling them to keep their cash or cars or, this one time, shirt (even Gaea wasn't scary compared to this ninety year old Greek guy trying to strip for Piper. I _still_ have nightmares about that one). At any rate, she was right so we hastened to the station. (I know,_ hastened. _I've been spending a lot of time around Annabeth)

When we got there, this porter dude kept trying to speak with us in Arabic. Hazel replied in Latin, receiving a puzzled look from the man, so Annabeth tried Greek with much the same reaction. Piper pulled out some French, but that didn't work. I, ever resourceful, tried English, but he _definitely _didn't get that. It was Leo who got some luck.

_"Hola, se__ñ__or. Necesitamos abordar el autob__ú__s numero diez. _¿_Donde lo est__á__?"_

_ "S__í__ , se__ñ__or. Va a este pasillo y despues va al signo verde. El autob__ú__s est__á allí."_

_ "Muchas gracias, __se__ñ__or." _In English, Leo said, "That way," pointing at a hall to our left.

"I didn't know you were fluent, man," Jason said.

"Yeah, well..." he looked a little uncomfortable.

"I just want to know why in _Hades_ an Arabic man would know Spanish. That's so random!" Piper wondered.

"Yeah," I agreed, "I thought the majority of people learned English as a second language." (There's Annabeth again.)

"Oh well," she said. "It's not exactly important, now is it?"

"Guess not," replied Hazel.

"BUS TEN. NOW BOARDING BUS TEN" a voice from an intercom announced in several different languages including, thankfully, English.

The bus was made four seats across with an aisle in the middle, so we sat in pairs. Annabeth and I sat together, and I think Jason and Piper shared a row, with Hazel and Frank across from them and Grover and Leo across from us, although, honestly, I wasn't really paying attention, because this was the first semi- alone time I'd spent with Annabeth for awhile. Grover and Leo started talking about mechanical barf, so that left me free to talk with her.

"Something occurs to me," she said in a voice that meant she was about to say something either really interesting, or go on about architecture for the next 3 hours. I hoped it wasn't the latter.

"What?"I asked, mentally crossing my fingers.

"Well obviously the Greek/Roman gods are real," she said.

"Uh- huh," I replied, not knowing where she was going with this.

"The Egyptians had Gods too."

"And you think they're still hanging around, too?"

"I don't see why not," she said, a gleam in her eye.

"Hm," I said. "I wonder how they'd react to us?"

"Probably not too well" she said.

That was when the sandstorm blew up , causing the outside world to turn a reddish brown color.


	2. We Get Magic Boomerangs Thrown at Us

**CHAPTER 2: **

**We Get Magic Boomerangs Thrown at Us**

"What the heck?" The bus driver cursed in Arabic.

"Coincidence, right?" I asked Annabeth as the bus _screeched_ to a halt.

She looked a little nervous, which didn't exactly make me feel better, so I turned to the others. "Everybody still in one piece?"

"Present and accounted for," said Grover.

"So... now what?" Hazel asked.

"I guess we wait." Jason frowned.

"At the moment," I said, trying to light the mood, "we're just a bunch of random tourists on a bus."

Nobody liked that idea. I noticed Leo fiddling with a few spare parts like he did when he was nervous, and without realizing it, I'd been fingering Riptide, itching to take the cap off. I didn't know why I was so nervous; after all, these kind of storms blew up all the time in the desert, right? Annabeth gripped my hand, and just knowing she was with me made me feel a little better.

"Quiet! Quiet!" the bus driver yelled several times in Arabic. It didn't occur to me until much later that I understood the Arabic, and that wasn't even until someone else brought it up. "We're going to be stuck here for a while so... just don't, uh, open the window, or anything, okay?" The passengers muttered their assent and went back to their conversations. The whole 'understanding Arabic' thing might've occurred to me right then if it wasn't for the fact that my window was unexpectedly opened.

The wind roared outside, and I was so stunned that I just sat there stupidly, staring at the window that had just opened itself.

"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. I tried to protest but just then, the bus driver lumbered down the aisle.

"Young man," he said, "I said one- one! thing and you ignored it. Completely."

I should've said sorry and closed the window. Instead, I got mad. "I didn't open the window!" I said.

"Well then who did?"

I started to reply but hesitated, realizing I had no such explanation. That could be an issue, I thought.

"Thought so," the bus driver said smugly. "Now close the window!"

I reached my hand up to do just that when a hand shot out from the dust and grabbed my wrist.

"_Di immortales_!" Annabeth shrieked. I had to agree with her.

Suddenly, without any warning, me, Annabeth, Leo, Grover, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank were all standing outside the bus in a miniature eye of the storm. A woman in her early thirties stood in front of us, her feet braced, teeth clenched, and hair whipping about her shoulders.

"Man we have bad luck on busses," Grover whimpered.

I almost would've laughed if I hadn't noticed that the lady was holding a boomerang that was starting to glow. A blast shot from it knocking Annabeth off her feet. That was it for me, so I grabbed Riptide and uncapped it, changing it from a pen to three feet of wicked sharp celestial bronze. Jason pulled his sword from a sheath on his back; Piper's knife gleamed despite the swirling sands. Leo got a big sledge hammer from his belt, and Frank stood at the ready with his bow, an arrow nocked on the string. Hazel's cavalry sword, somewhere in her luggage, was no use but she pulled a celestial bronze dagger Annabeth had given her. For about a minute, we looked seriously impressive, but then twelve more boomerang wielding men and women stepped from the swirling sands.

They all started saying stuff and glowing symbols appeared all over the place. The ADHD part of me noticed, absently, that the people were all wearing linen pajamas, which I thought was odd. I only had a second to think about it though, because a kid, no more than nine years old, shouted something and chucked his boomerang at me. Unfortunately, the kid had good aim, because the thing smacked my right in the cheek and then turned into a fruit bat which proceeded in attempting to bite my nose off. The thing was worse than a Stymphalian bird! Apparently the rest of my crew wasn't faring too well either, because in the space of five minutes, six of the eight were either tied up with some self- tying rope or unconscious on the ground. I was worried about Annabeth, but I was still running around with a fruit bat attacking my face, waving riptide like a lunatic. Riptide, however, refused to kill the bat, so I was stuck with swatting and running in circles.

I saw the golden blast right before it hit me and for a moment wondered what kind of monsters fought with boomerangs before I blacked out.

I blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Is thrice even a word? I don't know. It didn't matter though because the lights were nonexistent. Ugh, I thought. My head hurt really badly, and when I tried to sit up- well there were two problems with that. One would be the ropes that currently entwined my whole body. The other would be the nauseous feeling that permeated my stomach when I tried to move. Okay, I thought, so I'm not going anywhere.

"Percy?" Annabeth whispered.

"Yeah, it's me," I said wincing.

"Oh, sorry about that," Annabeth said. I was about to reply when she said, "Don't talk, just listen. I know your head hurts; mine did too. It'll pass in a few minutes"

"Where are we?" I asked.

"I can't see in the dark, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said wryly.

"Yeah, well-" an arc of pain shot through my forehead, "Gods, that hurts."

"So stop talking. Best as I can tell we've been here around twelve hours. There's a window over there, but the moon went down about an hour ago, and I guess it's cloudy tonight because there's no starlight."

"Is anybody else...?" I trailed off.

"I don't know," Annabeth sounded doubtful. "I heard someone moaning about food half an hour before you woke up, so I assume Grover's here somewhere. I don't know about anyone else."

I almost chuckled thinking about Grover and food, but my head still hurt and I didn't feel too much like laughing. "So, now what?"

"You just expect me to have a plan?" Annabeth complained. I waited. "Yeah," she sighed, "I do. I've been working on the ropes or the last hour or so and I'm almost through one."

A shuffling noise came from the corner. Annabeth _shushed _ me, and even though I didn't need the reminder, I stayed quiet.

"Wher- oww!" a familiar feminine voice came from the corner.

"Piper!" I exclaimed.

"Percy? What-"

"Shh," Annabeth cautioned. "The pain will subside in a few minutes. Percy and I were just discussing what happens next."

"What happened now?" Piper asked. "We were in the bus, and then the sandstorm, and then a bunch of dudes in pajamas attacked us. Oh man, I must've hit my head harder than I thought."

"Nope," Percy confirmed. "I remember the pajamas, the boomerangs, and the sandstorm. What I don't remember was being brought here."

"Alright," said Annabeth, "I have _no _ idea what happened . Somebody, start talking."

There wasn't much to tell. I started at the guys in linen pajamas and Piper chimed in whenever she felt it necessary. The both of them gave a half hearted laugh when I told them about the fruit bat, but when we finished the story, Annabeth's face was grim.

"I think.." She started.

"What?" I asked when she trailed off. I knew that voice. It was the 'I-have-an-idea-but-I'm-not-sure-and-if-I-am-right-I-don't-like-it' voice. "Look, I want to hear whatever it is your thinking," I said matter-of-factly.

"Well... I'm not sure, but I heard a rumor once-"

Just then a door busted open and light flooded in. I squinted against the light and tried to look at the man who had just walked in. Unfortunately, light in a dark room wasn't a great combo, and I was as effectively blind as when it was dark. I mumbled a curse in Greek and then the man spoke.

"Children," he said, not like he held any malice with us, but like he was about to do something unpleasant. "I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."


	3. Sadie A Crazy Chick Breaks Into My House

**Sorry this took a bit... I edited it like 5 times. Anyway, before I get going, Shout out to two amazing reviewers: soul61 & God1801. I seriously appreciate the reviews! and so, without further ado (is that how you spell it?), chapter 3 :)**

**CHAPTER 3:**

**Sadie- A Crazy Chick Breaks Into My House**

I was really mad. First, Carter woke me up at two in the morning saying he'd had a dream about- of all things- Amos kidnapping a bunch of teenagers. I rolled over and told him to go back to sleep; he ripped my covers off.

"What the heck!" I yelled at Carter. I was this close to _ha-di_ -ing him.

"Sadie! This is important! I had a _ba _dream that Amos had a bunch of kids and they were all tied up in the First Nome," Carter whined

[Well you were, Carter. Shut up. I'm telling the story right now]

"Fine," I grouched. I slipped out of bed, patted my hair down and slid on my combat boots. I was pretty much wearing the same thing to sleep as I would awake: my linen PJs.

"Come on," Carter said. "I'll wake up Zia and then we can go."

"I'll get-" I faltered. I had been about to say Walt, but, well, that was hard to talk about. Let's just say he was spending some quality time with my Dad. Carter looked at me sympathetically, apparently understanding what I was about to say. I hated when he did that. I decided to finish my sentence.

"I'll get Bast," I said

"Did somebody call for a cat?" Bast smirked, pouncing into the living room.

"I didn't exactly call," I grumbled.

"Somebody's feeling moody. Okay, what's going on?"

Carter explained, and since he was talking, I went off to get Zia. I was just about to go into her room when I noticed a door ajar a little ways down the hall. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem. We've got a whole bunch of younger kids, 7 or 8 years old, who like leaving the door cracked so a little light would slip in. This room wasn't occupied, though. This was Walt's room. Emphasis on 'was'. I knew it was going to hurt. I hadn't been in there since- well, you know. I crept up to the room anyway.

I might remind you it was two in the morning. Basically, I was pretty sure I was the only one awake. Apparently I was wrong.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked the crazy red head in the corner, trying and failing at being unobtrusive.

"I need to speak with you and Carter now!" the girl said, a wild look in her eyes.

"Again- who the heck are you?" I added a measure of danger to my voice.

Matching my tone she said, "I'll explain everything, but right now, we need to get to Egypt."

That stopped me cold. Who was this girl? And what did she know about me? I led her out of the room, deciding to find out more about her later. I was about to get Zia when her door opened and she walked out- fully dressed, her eyes perfectly lined with Kohl. That annoyed me. I swear that stuff must be magic because it was never, ever smudged, and Zia never went without it.

"You're loud," she said curtly.

I just nodded and led her and the redhead into the living room. Bast had a thoughtful look on her face, like she might have an idea, and Carter was frowning. Bast looked up and her ponytail puffed up like an porcupine.

"_Meow_! What is that doing here?"

"Well, excuse me!" said the Redhead. "I'm not a _that_!"

"_Hiss_," Bast, well... hissed.

"Um..." Carter said, "could somebody please tell me what's going on here?"

"This..." Bast looked like she wanted to say thing again. Instead she pointed in the Redhead's direction, "needs to leave."

The Redhead jutted out her chin and cocked a hip, "I'm not going anywhere. At least, not until I explain."

"I'm listening," I said, a bit of my usual charm returning.

[Yes, Carter, it is charm. No! Look I'm talking right now, so just go, I don't know, sit in a corner or something]

"Okay... well... this should be interesting. Okay, you've heard of the gods, right?" The Redhead said.

I looked at Bast and chuckled, Zia raised an eyebrow and Carter replied, "Uh, yeah, I think we know what you're talking about."

"What's the joke?" the as-yet-unnamed girl said.

Bast gave a flourishing bow and said, "Bast, (she paused for dramatic effect) at your service!"

"Um, okay. Interesting name and all, but this is kind of important. So gods, you know. Zeus, Poseidon, Hera? Them. Anyway, the-"

"Hold up," said Carter.

"What? I haven't even gotten to the freak-you-out part yet!" The Redhead said, a bit exasperated.

"Those are, what, Greek gods?" I said.

"Um, yeah"

"Well, what's so important about them?"

"They're real."

"Bloody hell!" I choked out.

"You didn't know?" asked Zia incredulously.

"You didn't exactly bring it up!"

"It didn't really occur to me," she said.

"Did _you_ know?" I said looking at Bast.

"Well, dear, I suppose I knew something about it, but-"

"Did everybody but me know?" I yelled.

"I didn't," said Carter," but I think I'm starting to get it. You remember back when we first found out about everything, Amos said not to go to Manhattan because it has its own problems. And remember when you could've sworn you saw a flying horse? I think we just figured out what those problems were."

"You mean," I said slowly," To tell me. That Amos knew too. And he never told us!"

"Yep," said Carter.

"Not to butt in or anything," said the Redhead, "but I have somewhere I need to be, and I need your help to get there."

"Where?" asked Carter.

"Egypt," she replied matter-of-factly.

I nearly choked on the water I had picked up. "You want us to take you to Egypt, and you haven't even told us your name?"

"It's Rachel," she said, "And yes, I do, because my friends are being held captive and I had a- er, someone tell me you could help."

I knew she was hiding something, but I didn't know what. Carter, like an idiot, piped up and asked, "Is it four guys, three girls, and a goat?"

"Yes but how-" Rachel looked uneasy.

"My _ba_ told me," he cut her off, "Come on! We have to go. Zia, I'll explain later."

"What's a _ba_?" Rachel wondered aloud. She didn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular, and Carter was too excited, so I didn't bother answering.

Carter and Zia went up to the roof, leaving me, Bast, and Rachel alone. This would be interesting. Bast stared daggers at Rachel. I didn't know what her deal was, but I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that stare. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, I led them up to the roof. Carter looked like he was going to strangle me, but I tried not to let that bother me. I opened a portal to the First Nome.

With Amos as First Lector and people getting used to the idea of working with the gods again, we were usually welcome. Sometimes we were even thrown parties, you know, since we beat Apophis and all.

[We were _not _thrown parties!]

[Shh! Carter, they don't know that!]

In a few seconds, we were there. Rachel, apparently, hadn't closed her mouth and was now spitting sand out of her mouth. I, being the pro I am, dusted off my shoulders and smiled. Time for Carter and this _Rachel_ chick to start talking.


	4. Carter Rachel Turns Egyptian

**Okay, so... took me a little while to finish this up. I now appreciate what Rick Riordan had to go through to get stuff like **_**di immortales**_** or **_**erre es korakas**_** (go to the crows). It took forever to figure out how to say Greek in Arabic. And ancient Egyptian? Forget it! Anyway, best as I can tell, Yaynr****ā****y****ā****k****ā****f is the phonetic way of saying **يوناني **which means Greek in Arabic. If anyone out there happens to speak Arabic, I am so sorry for the horror that I have done with your language. Anyway, hope you enjoy and please, please review :)**

**CHAPTER 4:**

**Carter- Rachel Turns Egyptian**

So here's what happened next. Well, first, I should mention a few details that Sadie left out. First is that Rachel was dripping wet. (And no, it wasn't raining) She looked like she'd taken a dip in the Hudson, just for fun. Anyway, the important thing she left out was the contents of my conversation with Bast. Here's what happened:

After I explained about my _ba _trip, I asked Bast what she thought was going on. It wasn't what she said that scared me. It was what she didn't say.

"I don't know why Amos would abduct children," her eyes gave away the lie. "I suppose he'd have a good reason. I think you should trust your uncle's guidance and leave it be."

"Bast!" I said, "you can't just stand there and tell me to ignore this! We just fought a war based on not 'just letting things be'! You can't expect me to just let this pass! It was a bunch of kids tied up in a tomb! The guy that was awake in the first room- Percy, I think- he didn't seem to have any idea _what_ was going on."

"Carter, I know this isn't easy for you, but you do not want to interfere in that mess."

"What mess?" Bast shook her head. "Look," I said, "All I know is that a bunch of kids that can't be much older than me, and I kind of doubt they deserve what they're about to get! You don't have to come, but I'm going."

"Carter don't-" Bast was interrupted when Sadie walked in with Zia and Rachel (who at the time was just the dripping redhead).

That was when Bast freaked out. The hatred in her eyes, masked quickly, but not fast enough for me to miss, _that_ scared me. And then the thing about the Greeks, I thought Bast was about to claw Rachel's eyes out. At any rate, there was an underlying tension that Sadie missed-

[Well you certainly didn't _seem _to pick up on it, Sadie]

-but I was pretty sure Rachel noticed. Something about that girl... well Bast wasn't the only one a bit bothered by her. Of course, I wasn't homicidal about it, but there was still something about her. For one thing, she looked like she'd seen too much, as if the future was too clear. She had this pained look about her, like whatever she'd done to get here had done more to her than get her wet. She looked like she'd hurt someone she loved. But there was also a hard layer to this girl. I didn't know what to make of her.

Zia walked over and whispered, "I need to talk to you. _Now_."

I know, I know. I was a love struck, pathetic idiot, [no comment from you, Sadie] but that was all it took for Zia to drag me away from everything. The funny thing was that she was still just getting used to the idea that I was in love with her, and nowhere near reciprocating. Anyway, I shouted something about a portal over my shoulder and followed Zia up to the roof.

"Carter, I need to tell you something really important."

A little, hopeful part of my brain asked _You're in love with me?_ The rest of my brain mentally kicked it. _Erg, _I thought. I hate not being in control of anything when Zia was around. The logical part of me said _it's been more than two years, idiot. Move on! _Unfortunately the other part of me didn't want to let go so easy. I realized I'd been staring at her and said something really intelligent like, "Uh, what?"

Zia rolled her kohl lined eyes and replied, "Rachel isn't what she seems."

Well, duh. "What, exactly, does she seem like?" I asked.

"Look, all I saying is that-" Sadie bounded up the stairs and I swear I could've killed her right then, but of course, ever ignorant, she just gave me this look like _Seriously? It's not that hard to open a portal. _Sometimes I think I could strangle my sister.

When we landed in Egypt, I glanced around. Zia was shaking the sand from her hair and Sadie was dusting the sand from her shoulders. Rachel, on the other hand, spitting. A lot. Guess we should have told her what to expect in portal.

"Right," she said, "Close your mouth in a portal. Got it." She looked mildly annoyed, but not too fazed, as if this kind of thing happened every day. I guess her [Egyptian word for Greek] friends didn't tell her much either.

"Alright," said the ever diplomatic Sadie crossly, "who are you. And don't just say Rachel." (Rachel opened and closed her mouth like she'd been just about to say that)

"Okay. Well, for one thing I'm not a demigod. But I'm not exactly your typical mortal either."

"What the heck is a demigod?" Ah, Sadie. Very tactful.

"A demigod is a child born to a god and a mortal. A Greek god that is. Speaking of which, you looked a bit surprised when I said Greek, but not when I said god. What's the deal with that?" I liked Rachel. Maybe if things didn't work out with Zia, well... I supposed I cross that bridge when I got there.

"Uh," I said, "I'll explain later."

"Excuse me?" Rachel didn't sound too happy about that.

"Look," cut in Sadie, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but could you hurry up and finish telling us who you are so we can go."

"I'm the Oracle of Delphi. Or rather, I host it's spirit."

My jaw dropped and Sadie looked like she was about to puke. Zia just examined her nails, looking as if she'd completely seen it coming. Oh. She had. That's what she was trying to tell me on the roof. Figures.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "I had a vision that you two would help me save my friends who are in Egypt. So I found you and here we are in Egypt." She looked around doubtfully. "This is Egypt, right?"

"Yup," Sadie said, popping the 'P'.

We debated how to proceed for a bit before Bast piped up. "Much as I don't like the Yaynrāyākāf, we can't just trapeze into the First Nome with her in tow. She'll be locked up, and the three of you will be exiled. Again. "

"Again?" Rachel asked.

"Long story," I replied.

"Got it."

Zia started smiling, "I think I know how to get us in."

"This is ridiculous!" complained Rachel. We were all relatively well acquainted by now, so I was pretty sure I understood why Rachel wasn't too excited about her new get up.

[People do to say get up. Sadie, would you please allow me to finish talking!]

Rachel was dressed similarly to Zia: a white linen dress that sat softly on her hips and wafted around her ankles, with a single strap across one shoulder. A gold bracelet ringed her forearm, and a small leather belt pulled her dress in at the waist. Leather adorned her feet, and, to be quite honest, she looked gorgeous, but I was pretty sure if I told her, he'd punch me. And it would hurt.

After Zia dressed her up, we had decided her red hair was a bit too obvious, so Zia went and bought a black tourist-y Cleopatra wig. It had been, to say the least, difficult to get her irrepressible curls in it, especially since she wasn't too keen on helping us. Anyway, with her Kohl lined eyes, Rachel looked like she might actually belong in the house of life. At least at a glance.

"We still can't just walk in the front door. Somebody would figure us out," Sadie said doubtfully.

"She's right," Bast purred, looking distastefully in Rachel's direction. I guess cats don't like red heads, or something.

"There's more than one entrance," Zia explained. "We're going to use a sort-of back door I found a couple years back. I think we can use it to get in and attract minimal attention."

"Good. One more question. How do we find Percy?" Rachel asked.

"Uh... Play by ear?" Sadie smirked.

"_Di immortales_!" Rachel cried. "We need a plan!"

I still wasn't quite used to the sudden outbursts of Greek, but I nonetheless I answered, "I think I know where we're going. Oh, and Zia and I can cast an invisibility spell."

"Hey!" protested Sadie.

"Well," I said, "you're not very good at them." I shrugged helplessly.

Sadie looked like she was about to put a dent in my head, but then Rachel intervened, "Look, I hate to break up this brother/sister thing, but we need to save my friends, and I do _not_ want to wear this dress any longer than I have to."

"Let's go," I said firmly. I glanced at Bast, who'd been uncharacteristically quite, and noticed her glare hadn't softened. I hoped it was nothing, but I guessed it wouldn't be that easy. Oh, well. Wouldn't be my life if it was easy.

"Lead on," Rachel smiled.

**which means Greek in Arabic.**


	5. Jason Rachel Spews Smoke

**A/N: Okay, I know you all hate me for keeping you waiting so long, but highschool got in the way. Here it is though. So I'm thinking that it would be awesome if there were at least 5 reviews for this chapter. I feel like such an under acheiver. I was reading somebody else's fanfic and they were like '50 more reviews, please' and they got it so, I'm going for 5. I love all of you! Please, enjoy :)**

**~Gates Hale**

**Chapter 5:**

**Jason- Rachel Spews Smoke**

I woke up with a pounding headache feeling like someone had decided it would be a good idea to rearrange my ribs.

"Piper...?" I called weakly.

"Oh, Jason, thank the Gods!" Not Piper.

"Yeah, man, we were afraid you were out for good. Don't try to talk, the pain will subside in a minute or two," it was Frank, I think, who said that, but it was hard to tell as there was no light.

"Who's.. ." I winced, "Who's in here?"

"It's just you me and Hazel. I don't know where Percy, Annabeth, Leo, or," he hesitated before forging on, "or Piper are. I guess we're being kept apart based on demigod race."

Demigod race is what we'd taken to calling whether you were Roman or Greek. It didn't matter all that much, but the subject did come up, and we'd needed a word for it. Hence, demigod race.

"Is everybody okay?" The pain in my head was starting to clear.

"Me and Frank are okay, but, if you haven't noticed, we're kind of tied up."

_Shit_, Jason thought. What now? "We've got to find the others. Do you have any idea where we are?"

I guess they both forgot it was too dark to see, because there was a slight pause, as if they'd been shaking their heads before the both said no.

"Great," I muttered.

I hadn't really intended on anyone hearing that, but Hazel said, "We'll figure it out."

Then the wall exploded. Light flooded in, and, after my eyes accustomed to the light, I saw one of the strangest things I've ever seen: Rachel in a dress.

"Who's here," she said. It was really weird seeing her with short, straight, black hair. Pretty much the opposite of her normally wild red locks.

"Me," I answered, "Hazel, and Frank. We don't know about Percy and the others."

"Alright. Let's..." she trailed off noticing the ropes. "Sadie!" she called over her shoulder.

A blonde girl popped up behind her. "I'll see what I can do," she said in a British accent. With a shock I realized she was wearing the same linen PJs that our attackers had worn. She pulled out a boomerang and started muttering in another language. A glowing symbol appeared over Frank.

"Rachel! She's just like-"

She cut me off, "No she's not. Don't worry, she's on our side."

Somehow it didn't make me feel any better, but I noticed Frank's bonds loosening. Soon he was free and he walked over to Hazel, helping her out of the tangle of ropes. I stood up.

"Find friends first, explanation later," I stated.

I carefully picked my way across the rubble that used to be the wall and stepped into the brightly lit hall. For the first time I noticed three other people. A girl with short dark hair and intense eyes. A tall, dark skinned boy, and a woman who looked decidedly cat-like. Frank and Hazel stepped blinking into the light.

"I'm Carter," the boy said. "This is my sister Sadie." He gestured at the British girl. I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "This is Bast, and this is my, uh... this is Zia." Ah, I thought. Obviously this Carter had a thing for Zia. I don't know why I was thinking about that right then, but I was transported back to the first time I'd kissed Piper. She'd looked surprised, and then she'd kissed me back. I guess I looked pretty surprised after that, as I'd been having issues with her and Reyna. It hadn't taken me long, however, to realize how much I loved Piper.

Anyway, I apparently had a dazed look on my face, because Rachel started snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Jason," she laughed. "Come on, we've got to go find Piper." I smiled. She knew where my first and foremost thoughts were.

Part of being the Oracle, I guessed. Another thought crossed my mind. Maybe I was just that easy to read. I'd have to work on that.

We'd been wandering around less than twenty minutes when stuff started to go wrong. That's my life, for you.

"Excuse m- oh! Hi .I thought you were in New York," a guy in the PJs said.

"We were," Sadie answered, "Now we're not."

"We'd love to stay and chat," Carter interrupted, "but we've got places to be. We can catch up later, okay, Dean?"

"Yeah, sure," The guy, Dean, said. Then he seemed to notice us. "Who are-" understanding flashed across his face, "Oh, you didn't."

"We did," Zia stepped in, "and we would sincerely appreciate it if you told no one." Her words didn't match her tone of voice, which was dangerous. I was glad she was on my side. At least, I think she's on my side...

Dean looked scared. "S-sorry, Zia, b-b-but I have t-to tell Am-mos. "

"Right, got it!" Sadie sounded angry. She whipped out a boomerang, muttered a few words, and a glowing hieroglyph appeared over Dean. A second later, Dean was out cold.

"_Di immortales_!" I said. I had picked up some Greek in my time with everybody. "I wish I could do that!" but then I noticed how drained Sadie looked.

"_Di immortales_?" Carter asked," Never mind, not important. We need to find your friends, and I don't want to run into anyone else."

"Oh, gods," Rachel muttered before keeling over.

"Is she..." Sadie trailed off.

Rachel's eyes flew open, glowing green. Smoke billowed out of her mouth. Absently, I wondered where that stuff went when she wasn't prophesying. Then she spoke:

_Heroes of different worlds must unite_

_To prevent the end by immortal fight_

_An impossible task for one to bear_

_Lest He emerge from the empty lair_

It still freaked me out when she did that, but Carter looked like he was going to be sick.

"What was- how could- why-" he stammered through several beginnings to questions before looking at me helplessly.

Sadie looked at him like_, I can't believe I know you stupid_. "Duh, she said she 'hosted the spirit of the oracle'. Clearly she just gave a prophecy."

I had to give her credit for that. She was a lot smarter than I'd originally given her credit for. And she was taking to whole 'creepy oracle' thing much better than I had.

Bast spoke up for the first time. "I don't like the sound of that," she frowned, glaring at Rachel. "We need to get the_Yaynr__ā__y__ā__k__ā__f_ out of here _now_."

"Couldn't agree more", I muttered.


	6. Percy I Meet Blonde Thalia

**Hey guys! So I was going to wait a day or so, but I couldn't stay away, so here's the next chapter! Hope you like it! I'd love to see reviews! I've never done this, but...**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor have I ever, owned TKC, PJO, or HoO. Yeah, I wish.**

**CHAPTER 6:**

**Percy- I Meet Blonde Thalia**

A man walked into the room and roughly grabbed Annabeth. She squeaked in pain.

I got mad. "Hey! Leave her alone!"

The guy rounded on me, looking like he was about to hit me. "Keep your mouth _shut_."

"And if I don't?" I replied. Not my best idea.

The guy took a swing at me. I tried to duck, but of course, I was still tied head to foot in rope. The vicious arc connected with my jaw and I saw stars. I think I said something really smart, like, "Oh, yeah, well you're stupid," but I don't remember. I do, however, remember finding his arm near my face and biting as hard as I could. He did _not_ taste good.

"I'll kill you!" he shouted, raising a black staff.

The man, Amos, put his hand on the staff and whispered a few words into my would be murder's ear, and he slowly lowered the staff. The look on his face told me this would not be the end.

"Children," Amos started. I was really starting to hate this guy; the word 'children' didn't sit well with me. "I have disarmed all of you as I'm sure you've figured out. I will now untie you. Don't attempt to run or my men will kill you." That was it. No 'care for a bottled water?' or even an 'Are any of your bones broken?'

There were two things I was pretty sure about. Our immediate danger was low; if they'd wanted to kill us, they could've done that when they first captured us. Second was that they had no idea that Riptide was in my pocket. I was also willing to bet Annabeth had another weapon on her person, but I guessed that depended on whether or not they had searched us for weapons other than those that we'd been fighting with. One thing I wasn't so sure about was if my jaw was broken or not. There was shooting pain in my face, but I was pretty sure I could talk. And I could definitely fight.

Annabeth looked at me. I knew that expression like the back of my hand. _Don't do anything stupid, Percy. I have a plan, so don't mess it up! _I decided to wait to pull Riptide, so I nodded slightly in her direction. She gave me a relieved smile.

All of a sudden, Amos snapped his fingers and my bonds dissolved. I looked around and saw that Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Grover had all been released as well. Grover was still asleep. Piper got shakily to her feet. "I would _sincerely_ appreciate it if you would let us leave now," She smiled sweetly at Amos.

He looked confused for a moment but shook his head and said, "That's a nice little trick, girl. Here's one of mine," he snarled. A symbol flew from Amos to Piper and her mouth snapped shut.

"MMMMMMMMM!" She screamed. Apparently, though, her mouth wouldn't open.

I noticed Annabeth trying to wake Grover, so I screamed through my Empathy link _FOOD!_ Grover bolted up missing Annabeth with his horns by an inch.

"Eep!" she fell over in surprise. "You- scared- me- so- bad!" She stared at Grover.

"Blame Percy!" he bleated, "He woke me up!"

I shrugged, "I'll give you a little warning next time."

Annabeth glanced at me. "You'd better, Seaweed Brain."

With Piper still _mmhhhmmmmhm_- ing in the corner, I stood to face Amos. He'd been watching this entire exchange with a bemused expression on his face.

"Who do you think you are?" I asked.

"I _think_ I'm the First Lector, and I _think_ that you're all going to follow me _right now_!"

Annabeth's eyes pleaded with me not to make him mad, so I muttered "Fine," and helped Grover up. We followed the jerk into the corridor. I saw drawings and symbols all over the walls, and from the way Annabeth gasped, I figured I was looking at something pretty important. To me, though, it just looked like a kid had taken a crayon to the wall.

After about thirty minutes of walking, I was wondering how far these tunnels could possibly go. I'd tried to talk with the others earlier, but that had earned me a slap across the face, so I shut up. Then, a group of people walked up. They were in the shadows, so I couldn't see their faces, but I had a feeling things were about to get worse. Then a fifteen year old girl who looked a little like Thalia except blonde stepped forward.

"Amos!" she said "We came to-" she stopped as soon as she saw us. Her eyes narrowed, "You didn't." Her voice was dangerously quiet.

"Sadie! What- exactly- are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Brooklyn! Why..." then one of the people stepped from the shadows. And he looked mad.

"Let. My. Friends. Go!" Jason snarled. Annabeth nodded at me and I smiled. This was about to get interesting. I drew Riptide and before anyone could react, I place the tip at the back of Amos's neck.

"Nobody move an inch," my voice sounded scary, even to me, and both the guards froze. I figured this guy was some kind of monster or something, but if he was mortal, the Celestial bronze would pass through him, no harm done. "Annabeth, Piper, Grover, Leo, go to Jason." I circled around so I was face to face with Amos. I expected... well, fear or something, I guess, but he was laughing, so I poked him with my sword. Just enough to prick the skin, and the next thing that happened scared me a heck of a lot more than any monster would have.

A pinprick of red appeared on this guy's throat. Not ichor, and not dust. This guy was mortal, and my sword cut him, which means... "You're a demigod?" Annabeth cried incredulously.

"NO!" he thundered. Wow, I'd thought only Zeus could do that. Figures that the only people in the universe who could do that both hated me.

Another boy stepped forward. "Amos," he said cautiously, "What have you done?"

"Carter, you and your sister need to leave _now_."

_Sister?_ I thought, there was nobody who looked even remotely like him.

"Amos! What. Have. You. Done?" Sadie put her hands on her hips.

"I have done nothing wrong! Leave those children with me, and they will be dealt with appropriately."

That didn't sound good. I decided to take charge. "You're in no place to be bargaining Amos. I suggest you allow us- _all_ of us- to leave. Now."

"I'd listen to him," a girl said stepping forward. Hazel! I hoped Frank was in the shadows over there too. "You don't have time to use your staff or your boomerang. Percy is much faster."

Amos started to open his mouth but Annabeth cut him off, "Don't push it."

Carter looked a bit nervous, but Sadie gave him a reassuring smile. "Amos," she said sweetly, "_Astatiya!_"

Amos collapsed to the ground. "Not bad," a woman said. She was wearing a skin-tight leopard print jumpsuit and had yellow eyes with black slits for pupils. She looked kind of like a cat. The two guards picked up Amos and ran off, down the corridor from whence we came.

"What did you do?" I asked, bewildered.

"A spell," Sadie answered simply.

Apparently I looked pretty dumbfounded, because Carter took it upon himself to elaborate. "_'Astatiya' _is the Arabic word for sleep. Amos will be out eight to ten hours." He looked kind of impressed, like it was something he saw often, but that he thought the girl was really good.

"Umm..." I said.

Then one of the most surprising things ever happened. Rachel Elizabeth Dare stepped from the shadows and said, "Listen! We need to get out of here now! Carter, Sadie, Zia, and Bast will explain later. More guards will show up soon."

I knew better than to argue with Rachel, so I motioned to Annabeth and the others and we started on our way. I noticed the woman, Zia or Bast, I suppose, was licking her wrist. That was a bit strange.

Piper started humming softly. I turned to her to ask what she was doing when I saw her lips begin to part. She was charm speaking her own mouth!

"How did you do that?" the girl with the cropped black hair asked.

"She's a charm speaker," I said, noticing her mouth wasn't fully opened yet. Annabeth punched me in the arm. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Don't say too much," she hissed.

"Fine."

Just then Piper finished and shout/whispered, "Jason!" She practically fly tackled him, and despite his superb balance he fell towards the ground. He stopped falling about halfway down and made the air push him back up.

"Good to see you too," he said wryly, planting a small kiss on her forehead.

The girl raised an eyebrow but said nothing as we walked on. I should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

**Okay everybody! I need reviews! 2 things, though. 1st: just to make sure you know, 'blonde Thalia' is Sadie. 2nd: I have to confess, I'm not sure what trouble they're about to run into, so it's a cliffhanger for me too. If you have any ideas... I Wanna Hear 'Em!**


	7. Sadie A Musical Instrument Saves Us

**Okay, so you probably hate me for keeping you waiting, but I was being lazy because my best friend just moved back to my neighborhood AND school was out so I didn't want to do anything. Thank everyone who reviewed much! I live on what you say! I'm sitting there, flipping through the story stats and I see a new review and I'm like "Oh my gosh! Yay! Somebody come read this!" SO heres a challenge: whoever gives me my 21st review gets an OC appearance somewhere. I'll PM whoever it is :) (BTW I did 21st because everybody does a round number and I was like 'to heck with that, I'm being original!') Oh, and I love you all!**

**CHAPTER 7:**

**Sadie- A Musical Instrument Saves Us**

So after we played jailbreak with all the Greeks and Romans (and I'm _still_ confused about that) I noticed Bast shooting these looks at all of them, so I decided to pull her aside.

"What's up?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Bast," I said, "don't lie to me. What is your problem with them?"

"Look. Greeks and Egyptians do _not_ mix. When the Greeks invaded Egypt, it was, at first, a good thing. The Greeks treated the Egyptians well. In fact, they thought Alexander was a son of Amun-Ra. He was good to the people, and the gods blessed him. But after he died, the following leaders abused the Egyptian people. The Gods resented it, but they couldn't do anything about it because the Greek Gods backed their people. Eventually, the Greek empire collapsed, but the Romans took over from there, and they were even worse! I just- I can't stand to see you with them. You can't trust either of them."

"There was a time," I said, "When every single magician in the House of Life thought the same thing about to gods," Bast made a move to cut me off, but I kept talking. "Maybe, that misconception is akin to what you feel about them."

"Sadie..."

"You told me once that cats weren't courageous. I never believed it. don't make me start," I narrowed my eyes.

"Fine." Bast stalked off.

I walked back over to Carter. He was looking at Zia like a lost puppy, and she was trying her hardest to avoid his gaze. I almost felt bad for them.

"SADIE!"

"Holy-" I almost fell over when I realized I was in a completely different place than I had been two minutes ago.

"Sadie..." A tall dark and handsome- oh, god, it was Anubis. My heart did this flippy thing in my chest. I almost shot myself for that.

"You- you- you have the _nerve_ to talk to me after- after- what you did!" I was furious at him, even though my stupid teenaged hormones felt otherwise.

"Sadie-"

"Sadie nothing!" I shouted. "Don't talk to me! Ever!"

His face looked so sad, like he'd seen more than I could even bear, but at that moment, it was worse. It was just a flash, but pain shot through his eyes, more than I'd seen before. "Listen. You don't have to lo- like me, but you do need to listen. You need to get those things away from Egypt as fast as possible. They are not safe."

"How could you stand there and pretend to _care_? After..." and then something really unexpected happened. I started crying. Sobbing really. It wasn't like me, but I'd been putting on a brave face so long that when it started to crack, I couldn't hold back the tears. I plopped to the ground in his graveyard and sat there, sniveling like an idiot.

"Sadie," he said, dropping to his knees beside me, "I always cared. I still do. I tried, but there was nothing I could do. Please, don't blame me. I can't-" his voice broke. Tentatively, he put his arm around my shoulders.

"Don't." I shrugged his arm off and turned away. "You just expect me to forgive you. You could've saved him, or at least made it easier for him. But you didn't."

"I couldn't!" He yelled, his face contorting with rage, a fury that scared me.

"Why not!" now I was mad. "You could've-"

"NO! I was forbidden! If I had, you would be dead!" He looked angry, sad, and surprised all at the same time.

I sat there numbly, feeling the time pass but not comprehending what I'd just heard. "A-A-Anubis..."

"I shouldn't have told you. I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you die, even if it meant- well, it doesn't matter. Just, beware those who call you friend." He looked away and I was back in the corridor with Carter like I'd never left.

"-leave through the third entrance and go back to Brooklyn. Maybe then we could..." I stopped listening then. I tried to figure out what Anubis had meant, but I just couldn't focus on anything. I felt... empty.

"Sadie, are you okay?" One of the Greeks was looking at me with concern, his brow slightly bent.

"I'm... fine."

"Look, I'm no good with people, but you're clearly not fine."

"Is it that obvious?" I sighed.

"I realize you don't know me, well, at all," I noticed he was fiddling with some nuts and bolts, "but you can talk to me."

"I'm, sorry, you are?" I said, a bit of spunk returning to my voice.

"Leo," he grinned, straightening up, "at your service," he gave a small bow.

I rolled my eyes. Then the wall exploded.

Leo was sent toppling right into me (figures). I looked in surprise at what must've been thirty magicians all holding staffs pointing at (unfortunately) our heads. I still haven't figured out how, but Percy and Jason were both on their feet, apparently not getting knocked over by the blast.

"Not cool," said Percy.

_Wow, great one-liner, _ I thought sarcastically.

"Very not cool," agreed Jason. Man, they were fail at that. What they did next, however, completely made up for it.

A bolt of lightning sizzled in the group of magicians, setting several of them on fire. Staffs were dropped and the spells that were already in the works fizzled out as everyone lost concentration. And just when I didn't think anything else would surprise me, Percy got this constipated look on his face and a small trickle of water in the corner turned into a torrential flood, washing the magicians down the corridor.

Two of the staff wielding men stood, albeit a bit wobbly. The scrawny kid with, well with horns, started playing a set of pipes. I was wondering why he thought that would help matters when vines started attacking the men's feet.

"Agh, wha-" one of them shouted as he fell to the ground. The scrawny kid changed the tune to something that sounded Mozart- y. Both the men fell asleep. It occurred to me that me and Carter-

(Shut up! I don't care about grammar. Me and Carter, Carter and I, same thing!)

hadn't done anything to help fight off the magicians. I wondered how they'd gotten captured in the first place. I guess they weren't really prepared before. They took the magicians by surprise this time. Huh, go figure.

I noticed the blonde girl sitting by Percy, speaking in hushed tones. Before I could wonder what they were talking about, Jason turned to us.

"We need to go now. They know where we are. We were lucky this time, but who knows what they'll send next." I noticed his usage of the word 'what'. not 'who'. That worried me a bit.


	8. Annabeth The Duat to Brooklyn

**Hey! Lemme start by being completely stereotypical and saying I love you guys! Buuuuuut... I need reviews! Still don't have my 21, but for those of you that have reviewed, shout out! (If you want to) PM me a name and I'll stick it in as an extra somewhere in the story :). I was going to make you wait, buuuuuut I couldn't do that because I was just too excited. It's a bit of a filler chapter, not much plot developement, but I needed to get the introductions and leaving Egypt done with. Hope you enjoy, though :) And REVIEW! The 21 OC thing still stands: see last chapter for details. Without further Ado, the story-**

**CHAPTER 8**

**Annabeth- The Duat to Brooklyn**

"Percy!" I screamed when he collapsed. I dragged myself over to him, ignoring Grover's pipes and the PJ guys doing... whatever it was they were doing.

"Seaweed Brain, what-" I let the question hang.

He smiled ruefully, "Not enough water."

For about a millisecond I was confused. There was plenty of water to knock the men off their feet, but- oh, he meant there wasn't enough water for him. I guess it made sense, us being in the middle of the desert and all. "Can you stand?"

"I don't know, thought I'd take a nap or a while, rela- ow!" he protested when I lightly punched his arm.

"No more curse of Achilles equals no more nap every ten minutes."

His forehead crease as he frowned slightly, but he smiled at me and tried to sit up.

"We need to go now. They know where we are. We were lucky this time, but who knows what they'll send next." Jason said.

I stood, dusting of my legs and offering my hand to Percy. The stupid Seaweed Brain almost pulled me over trying to get up.

"No more big tricks in the desert, okay?"

He smiled at me, but I could see a hint of fear in his eyes. He didn't like being away from his father's domain.

I looked around at everyone else, noting a cuts and bruises, three incredulous faces, and a cat- looking lady who still frowned sourly. I didn't know what her problem, but I suspected it had something to do with our ancestral origins.

"Let's go," said the tall, black boy. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't follow someone who I'd just met, but the situation demanded it.

Next to me Percy stumbled. "You okay?" I was concerned. His face was pale and his lips drawn tight. His green eyes, though, were lovely as ever (ack, I sound like an Aphrodite kid), so I tried not to freak too much.

"I'm fine. I just feel like I took a dip in the Styx again, minus the invincibility."

"So, in other words, great?" I teased.

"Yep," he smiled ruefully. "Better than normal."

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. After a time, the tunnel became darker and soon we couldn't see. I think the Sadie girl was about to do something, but I decided we needed to stay a step ahead power wise since they'd saved us. Strategically speaking, it was the smartest thing to do.

"Leo, can you help us out?"

"Sure. Flame on!" He shouted idiotically, setting his hair on fire.

Sadie jumped back and the girl with short black hair mumbled a surprised 'oh!'. The only one who didn't seem fazed by this turn of events was the boy leading us, who just looked glad for the extra light.

"I- I- I didn't know you could do that!" Sadie frowned.

Silently I giggled to myself as Leo tried to explain about demigod powers.

"Leo, please stop talking," Piper smiled sweetly. I knew that voice. It was her charmspeak voice. That girl is brilliant!

Leo snapped his mouth shut and nodded franticly.

_Thank- you_, Sadie mouthed at Piper.

We walked a little longer before coming to a door. Unconsciously I grabbed Percy's hand. He squeezed mine and I steeled myself for whatever lay behind that door.

"Ha-di!" shouted Sadie. The wall exploded, making it rain shards of limestone and dust.

"They certainly have a flair for the dramatic," I muttered to Percy.

"Yes, they do."

I sighed. Whatever was on the other side definitely knew we were here now. Whatever she might be, Sadie was _not_ a strategist.

I stepped through the rubble into the lit world outside and nearly chocked. Rather than being in Giza, as I'd presumed, we were in (based on the architecture) Alexandria!

"How-"

"Distances are covered differently in the Duat," Zia replied matter-of-factly.

"The what?" asked Frank.

"Duat. I'll explain later. Right now we need to get to Brooklyn."

"How- oh, never mind," Hazel shook her head. I was inclined to agree with her, but showed none of this on my face.

I assumed what I hoped was a knowing look and motioned for Sadie to continue.

"Right, then," she rubbed her hands together. "Back to the States."

She opened a swirling portal of dust out of a pyramid statue. "Hop in!"

Rachel spoke up for the first time. "Close your mouth," she grumbled.

I took head of her warning and snapped my jaw shut before leaping into the sand.

I landed in a heap on the other side of the portal thing. Percy landed on top of me (not the worst thing in the world), but then a few more landed on him, and I was basically pinned under five people.

"Grr ofo meh!" I said. It was supposed to be _get off of me_, but that didn't really work out.

I heard some grunting and felt some shifting and then it felt like a three-hundred pound weight was lifted off my chest (which it kind of was). A hand reached out towards me and I took it.

Hauling myself up, I said, "Thanks, Seaweed Brain."

"Anytime," he grinned.

I heard Hazel gasp, "How did you-"

Looking around, I noticed the familiar Manhattan skyline across the East river. I decided that if I wanted to figure out what was going on I'd just wait and listen. I already had my suspicions about the Egyptian gods; this just confirmed them. I didn't know who these kids were, maybe some type of demigod, or maybe something else. One thing I did know: I didn't trust them. not yet anyway.

"Transport through Egyptian artifacts. We can go anywhere, so long as there's a pyramid or obelisk, or something like that," Carter explained.

"I get it!" I exclaimed, finally understanding the transport system.

"You do?" Percy raised an eyebrow. He was cute when he did that, I mused.

"Yes! Certain shapes of figures act as a focal point for the convergence of power, allowing for teleport through the duat. I assume it's the shape that causes this, rather than material, time of creation or place of creation."

"That about sums it up," smiled the black haired girl. "I'm Zia by the way," she stuck out her hand.

I shook it firmly and replied, "Annabeth, and while we're at it, I'll introduce everyone else. You already know Rachel, right?" She nodded. "This is Percy, son of Poseidon, this is-"

"Wait, what? Did you say 'son of Poseidon'? As in son of a god!"

"Yes. We all are. Well except Rachel. She's just the host of the oracle. And Grover."

"Just the host of the Oracle? It's an important job!' Rachel interjected.

"Yeah, okay. Anyway, we're all a son or daughter of a god or goddess along with a mortal parent."

"Leo, son of Hephaestus," said Leo.

"Hazel, daughter of Pluto," smiled Hazel.

"Wait a second," Sadie said. "I thought Pluto was Roman. Aren't Hephaestus and Poseidon Greek?"

"Some of us are Greek, some of us are Roman," Jason clarified.

"Okay. Which are you?" That girl had the tact of a Cyclops.

"Roman. So are Hazel and Frank. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo are Greek. Grover's Greek too, but he's not a demigod."

"Well what's he?" There's that tact again.

"I'm a Satyr, thank you very much."

"A what?"

"Satyr. Half goat."

"Half- what?" Sadie sputtered.

"Goat." Grover kicked off his shoe.

"Holy sh-"

"Language, Sadie," the cat woman said.

"Anyway," I cut in, "I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena."

"I'm Jason, son of Jupiter."

"Piper, daughter of Aphrodite."

"Frank, son of Mars. Among other things."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not," Frank admitted.

"Now," I said, "Who are you?"


End file.
